Matt Laubhan, chief meteorologist at WTVA Tupelo, Miss., knew he was seeing a killer tornado. “At that moment, viewers needed somebody to hold their hand and get them through it,” he says.
It’s been said that during war, there are no atheists in foxholes. Perhaps the same can be said for people in a tornado.
On the evening of March 24, WTVA, Allen Media’s NBC and ABC affiliates in Tupelo, Miss., was on the air with continuous live coverage for hours as tornadoes were sweeping through the area.
Matt Laubhan, WTVA’s chief meteorologist, was giving updates on the deadly train of tornadoes as they hit the state when he saw what appeared to be a strong tornado headed toward Amory, Miss.
“We knew this was a killer storm,” Laubhan says. “Everything on radar looks bad. You have a large, strong tornado that’s already killed people.”
Laubhan says at that moment, viewers didn’t need a meteorologist, just somebody to hold their hand and get them through that moment.
So Laubhan offered up a short prayer. “Dear Jesus, please help them,” Laubhan said. “Amen.”
Laubhan says the prayer was as much for him as it was for the viewers.
“I knew at that moment there just had to be something come out of my mouth, and quite unintentionally that’s what it was,” he says. “It just kind of falls out of my mouth.”
The story of the praying meteorologist went viral.
The clip of Laubhan’s prayer has been seen by more than 1.3 million viewers on YouTube.
“It’s one of the most powerful moments of live television I have ever been a part of,” says Pat Peterson, WTVA’s news director.
The reaction has been primarily positive, Laubhan says.
Here are comments from the YouTube video:
“I may not be religious, but seeing someone express compassion and worry over the wellbeing of friends and strangers is heartwarming.”
“As a Muslim, I have so much respect for this young man. His faith and compassion brought tears to my eyes.”
“I am not what you would call a religious person, but I have mad respect for the genuine empathy and care this man felt for all those people. I personally have never seen someone express themselves like this before. We need more people like this man in the world today. I could literally feel his heart breaking when he seen the path of the tornado.”
“People of all different faiths just had things to say,” he says. “It was interesting to see people who would typically declare a lack of faith that were moved by it.”
Within days, Laubhan went to “where people lost their lives and talked to folks and saw the damage. These tornadoes stayed down longer. It’s just incredible, the stories.”
People told him they felt they got enough warning, “but in some cases people did all the wrong things and still made it.”
The warnings might have been helped during the tornadoes by the station encouraging people to call friends and family.
“So grandma calls and checks in on you and makes you promise to go to a shelter,” Laubhan says. “Then you are going to go because you are not going to disappoint grandma.”
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